


The Next Big Step

by grrmwannabe



Series: Rivalshipping Shenanigans [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Sex, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:51:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grrmwannabe/pseuds/grrmwannabe
Summary: What gift do you give to your boyfriend when he's a million times better at gifts than you? That's the question that rattled through Seto Kaiba's brain until he finally gets an idea. A batshit crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless. Now all he has to do is put that idea into action





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-read by [Tiff](https://twitter.com/superpunchygirl) on twitter.

.            It’s been almost 2 years since Seto Kaiba willingly called Yugi Muto his boyfriend.

            Sure, they were dating for about 6 months before that moment, but that didn’t matter. When Seto muttered the word “boyfriend” was when it was serious. That’s when they celebrated it.

            That date was only a month and a half away.

            Seto’s eyes followed the intricate folds of his canopy bed as he ran his fingers through Yugi’s soft hair. Last time he checked the time it was 7:29 in the morning, but his brain was already running at full speed with ideas for this anniversary gift.

            If Christmas wasn’t any indication, Yugi was both the King of Games and King of Gifts. It was infuriating how Yugi knew how to dig into someone’s soul and get them the perfect gift out of seemingly thin air. One of Yugi’s gifts to him on their first anniversary was a medium-sized jewelry box, but instead of a necklace inside, there was a Luster Dragon #2 card. All Yugi said was that it was a clue and to actually pay attention to what the card was saying. So, after about 2 minutes of thinking, Seto went to where they had sex the very _second_ time, his home office, and found a sticky note that said ‘guess how you make my heart soar’. When he went to his Blue Eyes White Jet there was yet another sticky note. The clues went on until Seto eventually found himself on Spotify, listening to a playlist Yugi made that reminded him of their relationship.

            It was so clever, Seto wanted to throw up.

            This year was going to be different, though. No expensive objects. Something deep and meaningful, because Yugi was into that crap.

            He looked down at his lover and noted how deep his breathing was. He had to have caught up on lost sleep. Late nights became more common for them as Yugi had to work on his video game project, but also wanted to spend time together. Seto was fine with it, he lived off of 5 hours of sleep and 3 cups of black coffee per day, but Yugi wasn’t used to the concept just yet. So, he slept and Seto let him.

            “Gift… gift…” Seto whispered to himself. There had to be something that would blow Yugi off his feet that he didn’t expect. Something that wasn’t a material object. He looked around the room for inspiration. What was originally just a room for sleep and sleep only started to become a cornucopia of tropes from a teenager’s bedroom, all thanks to Yugi. On the side drawer next to his side the bed was a figure of a Blue Eyes White Dragon next to a Dark Magician, one of the few material items his boyfriend ever got him. The dresser on Yugi’s si—the left side of the bed was piled with textbooks. Some were also on the floor, pages flipped open and furiously highlighted. They probably fell as Yugi was putting them down and he was too tired to give a shit about it. There was a hamper next to the door so the maids could open the door a crack and yank it out without seeing Seto Kaiba’s private quarters. However, Yugi didn’t understand that concept, if his clothes that were thrown in a pile next to his fallen textbooks were any indication.

            Nothing was sparking Seto’s creativity. If anything, it was just sparking his irritation at both the mess and his lack of ideas.

            He got up out of bed, hopped in the shower, and put on his clothes as he internally cursed himself out. _This shouldn’t be that hard_ , he thought as he yanked his phone off the bedside table and left the room. _I have time, it’s fine._

            “Lefebvre, whip me up some eggs benedict,” Seto demanded to the chef as he walked into the kitchen. He was already whipping up some sort of breakfast sandwich but he nodded and turned on a second burner. “Morning, Mokie.”

Mokuba was already sitting at the kitchen island, a comic book in one hand and coffee in another. Seto fluffed his hair a little as he sat down next to him.

            “Hey bro. Yuge still asleep?” Mokuba asked. He mumbled a thank you as his breakfast sandwich was served and began to chow down.

            “Mmhmm, he’ll be up around noon, watch,” he unlocked his phone and scrolled through LINE. LINE was a pre-breakfast activity, nothing more. He paid more attention to the ads than anything else, to see what these prehistoric algorithms thought he was interested in.

            Something about a new dueling app.

            A waffle fryer he already owned.

            An article about how soon should one ask their significant other to move in with him.

            …Wait.

            Seto stopped scrolling and stared at the article in question. _Move… asking Yugi to move in… I could do that_. That idea for an anniversary gift was actually not bad, permission to move into his house. It seemed like a natural progression of their relationship and it wasn’t a material item. It was perfect.

            But the idea of that made Seto feel like he was going to have a heart attack. It felt too fast. They only became official boyfriends almost two years ago. However, the article said that was the perfect amount of time to at least bring the question up. He could bring it up. He had to be the one to bring it up because he wanted Yugi to move into his house. Would Mokuba approve? His opinion mattered here too.

            So many questions bounced around in Seto’s head and he tried his best to compartmentalize them in importance. Which questions should he tackle first? Figuring out if he should ask Yugi was definitely in the most important category. Everything else that went through his mind, Seto compartmentalized as directly underneath that in importance and mentally titled it as “all other worries”.

            Lefebvre slid his plate of eggs benedict towards him. Right, he asked for food.

            “What’s your plan for today, Seto?” Mokuba asked before he swallowed the last bite of his breakfast sandwich.

            “Just work. I have to do stocks and some other stuff, I have a to-do list,” Seto explained. Without another word, he practically swallowed his food whole and went off to his office.

      Work was the best way to get Seto out of any funk. Stocks and sales numbers made sense to him. It was easier to figure out supply and demand than stupid boyfriend-related things. He looked through his to-do list and created a plan.

       Now that he made certain versions of the duel disk exclusive to certain shops, demand was going up and the cash was rolling in slightly faster than usual. So, a celebratory dinner with his overseas partners was in order. Seto began to write emails and create a guest list. Planning dinners was almost like breathing to him at this point, he made them so often. Once the wheels started rolling on that, he checked it off and began to review stock. A new collaboration with Industrial Illusions was coming out in a few months and the stock seemed to be rising to where it should be. However, the early access packs that were to arrive at doorsteps of investors (and Seto himself) haven’t arrived yet. With some moments of angry clacking, an email was sent with the demand send them out as soon as possible.

      Whenever he was in the working mood, which was very often, Seto’s eyes glazed over and his body moved without a mind of its own as he completed the tasks on that ever-present to-do list. After what felt like mere moments, dozens of emails were sent out and plans for future events were set. He blinked a few times and looked at his phone for the time. 6:58 in the evening. His completely skipped lunch, but that wasn’t unusual. At the corner of his desk was a quarter-full cup of coffee, he must’ve just impulsively drank it while working, with a sticky note next to it.

      ‘Saw u were working so i went home to do some stuff. See u tomorrow probs? Got a free day finally! -Yugi :)’

      Seto’s lips twitched up into a smile and he glanced around before he took the sticky note and put it in his desk along with the dozens of other sticky notes Yugi left for him. At first the messages were kind of cheesy, even for him, but eventually, they became a little endearing. Just a little.

      He looked over at his to-do list and there was only one thing left at the bottom of the list. ‘Ask Yugi to move in with you, dumbass’. His usual frown came back with a vengeance as he read the sentence again. First of all, how did that get there? He understood a coffee going under his radar because it was out of his way. Second, the handwriting on this task wasn’t his own. The kanji was more scrawled out and clashed with the neatly printed characters Seto wrote. Also, the word ‘dumbass’ was written in big bold English letters, to really bring the insult home.

      The culprit was already obvious but the sounds from his video game blaring from his room across the hall confirmed it.

      Seto didn’t even knock as he walked into Mokuba’s room.

      “Dumbass? Seriously?” he asked after Mokuba paused the game.

      “Yeah. Knew it would get your attention.”

      He couldn’t argue with him there.

      “What made you think I was thinking on asking him?” Seto sat down next to his brother on the bed and leaned back against the headboard. Mokuba was a pretty smart kid, but he couldn’t help but wonder.

      “You were staring at that LINE ad for, like, ever,” he said before he stuffed an entire handful of popcorn into his mouth.

      _Goddammit_ , Seto buried his face in his hands.

      “Alright, well, the idea’s in my mind, but I don’t think we’re ready for that. I have other things to worry about,” Seto explained.

      “Like what? We’re not developing anything new.”

      “We have to do supply and demand stuff and I’m hosting a few dinners in the next few months.”

      “That has nothing to do with Yugi moving in, though,” Mokuba unpaused the game, but was courteous enough to turn down the speakers so they could actually hear each other. “We can just, you know, get a moving crew to do it. That was probably what you were planning to do anyway.”

      He did have a phone number on hand of a really good moving company that could bring Yugi’s stuff in and set it up in half a day. Mokuba didn’t have to know about that part, though.

      “I’m busy,” Seto decided, more to himself than to his brother.

      “I know, you’ve been working, like, all day. You’re avoiding him, aren’t you?”

      The word avoiding made Seto groan. It was such a weak word, avoiding. Someone who was too cowardly to face his problems would go out of his way to avoid them. But this wasn’t a problem, it was just a concept. Yugi moving in was a concept that Seto had to put on the back burner for now in terms of work. No matter what, KaibaCorp comes first, everyone knew that.

      “I don’t avoid things,” he said with a sigh.

      “Right, and I’m the fucking pope,” Mokuba rolled his eyes. “Look, if you’re not gonna tell him, I will.”

      “No! You don’t… have to do that,” Seto coughed as he lowered his voice. _It’s not that big of a deal. Nothing to yell over._

      “So, are you gonna text him or call?”

      Seto looked down at his phone in his lap and realized that he did have to say something. Mokuba getting involved would make things so much worse, so he had to say something. He lifted up his phone and opened his messaging app, pressing on Yugi’s name by instinct. He stared at the empty text box and he thought of what the right way to approach the situation was. The best way to do it was to be direct, but that was too big of a risk. He couldn’t beat around the bush either, because that was definitely avoiding and he refused to go that route.

      After a minute or two, he typed what he assumed to be the adequate response.

      >> Hey. How is your work going? Did you eat yet?

      Seto locked his phone and leaned back to watch his brother play, but almost immediately his phone buzzed and he had to see what it said.

      >> ahhhh im ahead of schedule!!!! didnt eat yet btu im just taking a break

      >> akak im watching the new dragon ball movie instead

      >> aka*

      Yugi’s frequent texts made Seto’s phone feel like it was going through a mini earthquake but it was charming. The lack of any punctuation and spelling was less charming but Seto was able to make out what he intended to say most of the time.

      >> I was thinking I could pick you up and we could go out to eat. Haven’t gone out on a date in a while.

      The text back was instant.

      >> but ii’m all gross right now

      >> Are you home?

      >> yea

      >> Then go shower and I’ll pick you up and we’ll go somewhere.

      >> burger world

      >> Pick literally anywhere else.

      Seto glared at his phone as they argued where they would go for dinner until they eventually settled on some Italian restaurant he’s never heard of. When he googled it, it was 3 stars, but it said it had carpaccio so it couldn’t be the worst thing ever.

      He was at Yugi’s place in 30 minutes.

      They were at the Italian restaurant in less than 15 after that.

      Yugi’s choice in restaurants wasn’t always the best, his palette wasn’t that refined. When Seto took a bite of his carpaccio, however, he determined that this was one of the few rare places Yugi likes that was actually not half-bad.

      Yugi wore his outfit he reserved for presentations, a lavender shirt with black slacks, with an added tie to make it look like he tried to be fancier. It was a clip-on tie, Seto could tell, but he didn’t say anything about it this time.

      The question was the only thing that was on his mind.

      He carefully chewed on a piece of beef while Yugi chattered on about his project and how his team wasn’t the best to work with. Something about how everyone wasn’t clocking in their required hours for this project.

      “I’ve been picking up the slack, which kinda sucks, but it’s whatever. Shouldn’t be that bad. Our programmer is really good, and I think I’m a good designer so we can carry it.” Yugi talked a mile a minute between spoonfuls of soup. The appetizer was when he talked the most, there wasn’t much else to do but eat and talk and he was always willing to share about his day. Unlike Seto, he didn’t have NDAs to make him watch his words.

      “What has your artist been doing?” he asked before he took a sip of wine.

      “Umm… not much. He started making some assets, but I guess he took a break,” Yugi sighed, “‘cause he hasn’t logged his hours so I had to take over and make some assets myself. So, there’s a bit of a drop in quality.”

      “If it was my project, I would have him fired.”

      “We can’t fire him, babe, he’s a student.”

      “Expel him then.”

      Yugi rolled his eyes. “We have end-of-project reports where we talked about who did work and who didn’t and I’ll rat him out then.”

      “Good.” Or good enough, rather. Seto still preferred his idea of just firing the kid.

      Yugi didn’t pack a bag, but there was a silent agreement that he was going to stay over Seto’s house. He stayed over most nights and he already had some clothes over. Hell, there was a section in Seto’s closet that just had Yugi’s clothes hanging up. He just chose to ignore that section every morning when he picked out his outfit for the day, especially those few days Yugi wasn’t over.

      _If he moved in, we wouldn’t have to worry about bags ever again_ , Seto thought as the entrees came in. He focused on tucking his cloth napkin into his collar and thought about how to bring the question up. He took a bite of his linguine with lobster and nodded to himself. It was alright, but his chef, Lefebvre, definitely had the better techniques when it came to making Italian. Yugi scarfed down his ravioli like it was the best thing he’s ever had and Seto’s lip twitched up for a brief second. He would like Lefebvre’s food, definitely.

      That was one way to bring up the topic. Yugi loved food, it made sense.

      “Yugi—” the question began to come out, but Seto felt like he was going to choke. There was a horrifying sense of deja-vu from a time that he felt like he settled with himself; that fucking chess game. _This is nothing like that_ , he told himself. _It’s nothing at all like that game. This isn’t even a game_. The slight similarity was in his head, however, and he couldn’t bring himself to continue.

      “Are you alright?” Yugi asked. His eyes were wide and he leaned against the table, bringing them closer to each other. It was the perfect time, Seto had his full attention. It was picturesque or whatever the people on his photography team would say. All he had to do was ask.

      “Y… you have something on your face,” he choked out.

      “Oh, where?” Yugi put down his fork and began to scrub at his lips.

      “Everywhere.” Seto wasn’t wrong. Yugi’s lips and the area around it was covered in tomato sauce. He ignored the easy comment to compare his boyfriend’s eating habits to a five-year old’s, he was too preoccupied with yelling at himself in his own head.

      Seto stayed silent throughout the rest of the dinner, only replying to anything Yugi had to say, and he always had a lot to say.

      Roland already had the door to the limo open when they walked outside. Seto didn’t even try to acknowledge his presence as he slid into the car with Yugi right behind him.

      “Home, Mr. Kaiba?” Roland asked after he hopped into the driver’s seat and buckled himself in.

      “Yeah, we’re going home,” Seto cursed himself mentally for that word choice. _It’s my place, not his. Maybe it’s better this way, maybe we should stay separate for a little while, we don’t have to move in—_

      He jumped as Yugi rubbed his hand against his thigh.

      “Hey… question,” Yugi whispered. Seto didn’t even have to listen to the rest of it to know what he was going to ask. “Wanna… you know… do some _stuff_ when we get home?” his eyes were half-lidded and a smirk was on his lips.

      “You can say sex, you know,” Seto let out a chuckle.

      “I know, it’s just weird with your driver there.”

      “And…? He doesn’t care.”

      Roland didn’t comment.

      “Whatever,” Yugi leaned up to kiss Seto’s neck. “I just think you seem a little tense. And I want to make you relax.”

      “You think sex will make me relax?”

      “I know it will.”         

      Seto knew he knew, and he was satisfied with that.

      When he explained why he didn’t end up asking Yugi the question to Mokuba the next day, however, he was extremely dissatisfied. He didn’t know if it was because of his own frustration with himself or Mokuba’s, because Mokuba looked very unamused with him.

            “C’mon,” Mokuba whined, “how hard could it be to ask Yugi to move in? He b—”

      “Basically already lives here, I know,” Seto groaned. “Look, I jus—”

      “Just want to wait, I know,” Mokuba raised an eyebrow at him. “Alright fine, whatever. Not really my business anyway. But as your brother, I’m gonna remind you that your anniversary is in, like, 2 months I think.”

      “44 days.”

      “Right. Well, if you don’t want to ask him to move in, that’s fine, I guess. You’ll figure something else out, you always do. Just buy him something.”

      Seto didn’t have it in him to tell his brother that he didn’t want to just buy him something.

      _It’s 44 days, I have time. Mokuba’s right, I’ll figure something else out…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by [Tiff](https://twitter.com/superpunchygirl) on twitter.

            There were 23 days until their 2-year anniversary and Seto couldn’t think of another gift. He had lists of ideas that Yugi would enjoy but they were less than satisfactory. When he made a list of ideas, he immediately went to his go-to, material items, but he scribbled those out the minute he realized his patterns. Along with the usual yellow sticky notes that decorated his work desk, there was a blue one titled “gift ideas” so whenever he had an idea he could immediately find where it was. It was conveniently placed underneath a yellow sticky note titled “due dates”. The anniversary date was written down on there, just as a reminder that he didn’t have that much time left.

            He couldn’t think about that part.

            “Hey Seto,” Yugi greeted as he walked into the office. Seto glared up at him and noticed for once he was up and dressed before noon during a work week. That’s been more and more uncommon as the school semester went on.

            “What do you want?” he asked before he went back to his computer.

            Yugi walked around the desk and hugged Seto from behind. “I have this big project I need to do and I’m tired of going home all the time to do work, so I was wondering if I could just bring my computer here for the weekend?” He buried his face in Seto’s hair once he finished talking and Seto chuckled.

            “There’s an empty room next door if you want to put your computer in there.”

            “Wait? Seriously?! Thank you so much!” Yugi planted a kiss on his hair before he pulled away. “I’m gonna go home and get it.”

            “On your bike or with Roland?”

            “If I take Roland, I want to take that red car you got from America.”

            “Fine.”

            It took a simple text to Roland and Yugi was on his way to get his computer.

            One complaint Seto had with his mansion was that there were too many rooms with no real purpose. They were meant to be guest rooms, but he refused to have guests. Too much room for them to walk out with something that didn’t belong to them. Any excuse to fill a room with something other than a bed was a good enough excuse for him.

            He took out his phone and dialed up another staff member.

            “Get me a multi-function desk. One that’s fitting for someone who’s on their computer a lot. Also, an ergonomic chair, for someone who plays video games a lot,” Seto kept the demand vague. “And get one within 2 hours.” He hung up without another word and looked at his blue sticky note. He quickly scribbled ‘computer desk and chair’ at the bottom and put a check mark next to it. If all else fails, he could call that his gift to Yugi. Of course, everything else won’t fail, but just in case.

            Seto didn’t have to worry about putting the desk together, his staff got a salary for a reason, they could do it for him. He cut his to-do list in half, one for before the desk showed up, and one for after they left. With this idea, he’d have time to watch over his employee to make sure they didn’t fuck anything up. Everything was always better when he watched over it to make sure nothing got fucked up.

            To his surprise, the desk and chair came in before Yugi and his computer did. Seto checked off the last thing from his first half of the to-do list, got up and walked over to the other room to expedite.

            The desk was quite long, long enough to fit two monitors side by side comfortably. There were some drawers on the left side, and on the right was some empty space for the actual computer to slide in. Other than that, there was nothing else exciting about it.

            “What’s going on?” Seto turned around to Yugi’s voice and saw him struggling to hold his monitor up. Roland was right behind him, in one hand he held the computer like a briefcase, and in his other arm he cradled the keyboard and mouse.

            “Got you a desk and chair to work with. Toru is almost done with the chair,” he explained as he moved to the side to let them into the room. Toru stood up to give Yugi a bow before he went right back to work. The chair was a little too big for Yugi, but it could provide extra comfort during really long nights.

            Yugi looked at the desk in awe and placed the monitor on top. Roland pushed the computer in the empty spot on the right side of the desk and spilled the keyboard and mouse on top. “We were gonna go to my place and, like, get one of those folding tables,” Yugi explained. “I didn’t need all this.”

            “Now you have it for whenever you want to work here,” Seto gave a little shrug. “All you have to do is bring your computer. You have a second monitor at home, right?”

            “Yeah.”

            “I’ll buy you two more so you’ll always have two no matter where you are.”

            “No, you’re not,” Yugi rolled his eyes. “I can work with one. I usually use the other one to play video games or something. Tonight, I plan to get everything done as fast as possible so we can hang out.”

            Toru gently pushed the finished chair to Yugi, bowed again, and left without a word. Roland whispered something about a package in Seto’s ear before he left too.

            “Is lugging around the monitor a good idea?” Seto asked.

            “No, but I’m not going to let you buy me stuff that I really don’t need,” Yugi walked up to him, went on his tiptoes, and gave him a chaste kiss. “I’m going to work now. You should too, you probably have a lot more shit to do than me.”

            He was right.

            Sometimes it was annoying how consistently he was right.

            “Dinner’s at 7,” Seto whispered.

            “I know when dinner is,” Yugi gave him another kiss. “Get to work, Kaiba.”

            “You too, Muto.” With that Seto let go and went into his own office to continue his to-do list.

            When he got back to the room, he saw the small box on top of his desk. On the side of the box was the unflattering Industrial Illusions logo, which confirmed Seto’s suspicions on what it was.

            “About damn time,” he mumbled to himself as he sat down at his desk. He opened the box and observed the booster packs he and Pegasus worked on. The art on the packs themselves was from one of Pegasus’ creations, Elemental Hero Dark Neos. Next booster card pack, Seto’s creation would take front and center. He ripped open the first pack and observed the cards inside. He paid more attention to the alien cards he created himself than the others that were either collaborated efforts or just Pegasus’ ideas.

            He opened his calendar on his computer and went ahead a month to confirm a dueling tournament for Yugi. The goal was to release the booster packs then with Yugi showing off what they do in his deck. Seto wrote a quick email to Yugi about creating a new deck before he put the box down and went back to work.

            As usual, his eyes glazed over and he wildly typed on his computer until his to-do list was down to only a few tasks and he got a phone call. He looked over at a sticky note and saw that right, he had an interview with some game journalism site about the new booster packs. As he picked up his phone, he pulled up the script he wrote for himself on his computer.

            “Seto Kaiba speaking.”

            Near the end of the interview, Mokuba walked into the room. Seto raised up a finger, gently commanding silence.

            “You’re sure to see something come soon. KaibaCorp is always one step in front of everyone else. This announcement will be just another world-changing event thanks to us,” he didn’t even bother to say goodbye before he hung up the phone and turned to his brother.

            “Interview?” Mokuba asked.

            “Yeah.”

            “Make any other phone calls?”

            “Like what?”

            “To that moving crew.

            Seto rubbed his temples. “I didn’t ask him yet,” he kept his voice low so Yugi wouldn’t hear from the other side of the wall.

            Mokuba’s scoff was unsurprising. “So, you got him a desk and his own space to work, but you didn’t ask if he wanted to move in? I think that’s counterintuitive.”

            “I know it is, but I have a plan.”

            “What’s your plan?”

            “Dinner tonight,” Seto opened an email and started to draft a response. “He’ll try Lefebvre’s burgers, he’ll say something about how amazing they are, and I’ll pop the question.”

            “Sureee…”

            “You not believing in me doesn’t make me want to ask the question.”

            “I believe in you, kind of.”

            Seto paid more attention to his email. He glanced over at the time, 5:12, he had time. Mokuba’s belief, or lack thereof, didn’t mean anything. He was Seto Kaiba and if he wanted to ask a stupid moving question, he would.

            Once it was around 6:50, Seto wondered if he could go another day without asking.

            _It wouldn’t be that bad_ , he thought, _but Mokuba wouldn’t let me hear the fucking end of it_. His little brother meant well most of the time, but the constant criticism was starting to get to him.

            Seto pushed himself out of his chair and went over to the next room. No, he was going to do this. He can ask questions, that’s all he really did as CEO, ask questions and solve problems. This was just like that, he reminded himself.

            When he walked into Yugi’s room he paused at the sight. Yugi was typing like a madman, his fingers like a storm across the keyboard. His earbuds were in and on full blast, Seto could hear the video game music from across the room, and he looked like he hasn’t slept in days. His eyes were drooped and there were two empty cups of coffee next to him. When did he get those?

            When Seto opened his mouth, he found his words stuck in his throat again. His heart began to beat at a million miles an hour and his palms began to sweat.

            _Fuck_. He knew. He knew what was wrong. That fucking Gozaburo. Whenever that man worked, he was completely sucked in. One of the few things Seto actually picked up from him. However, when Gozaburo was interrupted, it was like a volcano. Slurs and slaps filled the room as he screamed about how he needed to work, not waste time on stupid shit like the children he adopted. Once the bruises started to form on Seto’s cheeks, he remembered being ushered into his room and patted down with concealer to hide the evidence.

            His lunch threatened to come back up but he swallowed it down.

            _This is different. Yugi’s different. He’s my boyfriend, not some dead asshole_. Seto repeated that in his head like a mantra as he walked over to him.

            “Yugi,” he called out as he tapped his shoulder. Yugi squeaked as he jumped up and turned around to face him. Seto stepped back and forced his hands to his sides. He didn’t need to protect himself, it was Yugi.

            “Oh! It’s you. Sorry, I was just… working,” Yugi yanked his headphones off of his ears. The constant staring into a screen made his skin slightly pale, almost like he was sick. He buried his face into his hands and let out a loud groan. “My programmer is being dumb and my producer is stupid and I gotta do all this work now.” He gestured to his computer and began to tug on his hair. “Gotta program and, fuck, do some art shit and y’know.”

            Seto focused on his breathing as Yugi talked and missed most of what he said. Rather, all of what he said except when he asked him if he knew something. He probably did, but everything else was just static.

            “It’s fine,” he said, more to himself than to Yugi. “I was just wondering if you wanted to take a break for dinner.”

            “I wish I could, but I have too much shit to do right now. This is due in a few days and I was hit with this,” Yugi moved to the side and Seto leaned down to read what was on the computer screen. He didn’t recognize the username, but Yugi conveniently put programmer in brackets next to it.

            “Hey, man. I have something coming up,” Seto read the message out loud. “Got a ba… a baun… _what?_ ”

            “I have no idea what he was trying to say there, I’ve been trying to decode it for, like, an hour.”

            “Whatever. Your programmer has something coming up that’s apparently more important than school?”

            “Yep.”

            “Are you sure you can’t fire him?”

            “I’m sure. I would’ve done so by now.” Yugi moved his chair back, gently pushing Seto aside. “I wish I could come to dinner, but I gotta do all this now and it sucks.”

            Seto coughed to hide his sigh and stepped towards the door. “Want me to ask the chef to make you something you could put in the microwave?”

            “That would be wonderful,” Yugi wasn’t even looking at him, already back into his work. He then put his headphones back on, officially out of the conversation.

            Perhaps Yugi not coming to dinner was a good idea. At least that’s what Seto told himself as he left the room and went down to the kitchen. Mokuba was absent and Seto didn’t question it.

            “Filet Mignon with Foie Gras Sauce,” he demanded as he sat at the kitchen island. Lefebvre nodded before he went to work and Seto completely zoned out.

            For the rest of the night, everything reminded him of Gozaburo. The paint on the walls throughout the mansion was eerily similar to how Gozaburo had it with the fake panels in the paint and real wood panels two feet off the ground. Even though he reassigned the rooms, Seto’s hands felt clammy as he past the doors to where Gozaburo used to sleep when he went to his office after he ate. Hell, even his shirt reminded him of his stepfather. The thick material covered his neck and he felt some sort of bitter security from it. He needed to protect his neck, but Gozaburo was the reason he had to protect it in the first place.

            As he worked, Seto felt a ghost of a touch against his neck, the tightening of that godforsaken collar. He forced himself to stand up and pushed himself away from his computer. He couldn’t focus under these conditions.

            _Stop being so fucking sensitive, he’s gone now. You don’t have to worry about him ever again._  Seto beat that thought into his head as he walked into his room and yanked some pajama pants off a hanger. He slipped his jacket and pants off, but kept the turtleneck on. It just felt right. It was still winter, wearing a turtleneck to bed was what some people did. He put on his pajamas and unceremoniously flopped into bed.

            His eyes felt heavy as he pulled the blankets up to his neck and settled into the soft material. He looked at the figure of the Blue Eyes White Dragon that Yugi placed on the bedside table and gave it a little smile. Even though it was a simple overpriced figure, it gave him a little strength. He decided to not think about how stupid that was at least this time as he drifted off into sleep.

            Seto woke up to his bed dipping and hair in his mouth. His eyes shot open and he jolted up to Yugi settling in. The sunlight began to peek through the curtains, giving the room just enough light for him to see his boyfriend. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was even messier than usual. Seto didn’t even think that was possible.

            “Shit… you surprised me,” he whispered.

            “Sorry, didn’t mean to.” Yugi mumbled as he face-planted into a pillow. His clothes from the previous day were still on. “Just… tired.”

            Seto looked over at the clock and saw that it said 4:38 in the morning.

            “Have you slept at all since dinner?”

            “Nope.” Yugi held his pillow and closed his eyes. “Wake me up… never, preferably.”

            “Noted.” Seto got up out of bed and wiped a layer of sweat off of his forehead. He touched his turtleneck, which was drenched with sweat. _Was it really that hot last night?_ He thought as he checked the thermostat. It was at the temperature he always kept it, he shouldn’t have been that hot. He took off his layers of pajamas, jumped into the shower, and quickly washed off before he got ready for the day.

            With the unexpected free time on his hands, once he was dressed Seto took a Harry Potter book off his dusty bookshelf and left his bedroom. Yugi was fine on his own, he needed the sleep anyway.

            Harry Potter wasn’t his usual cup of tea, but with two extra hours to do whatever he wanted, he needed something simple to distract his brain. Order of the Phoenix was very blatant about how it wasn’t the first book in the series, but Seto didn’t care. He needed something dumb and childish.

            As the sun came up, Seto settled into an armchair in the living room and opened Order of the Phoenix. He felt his irritation rise as he read about Harry panicking for no reason for about 200 pages.

            “Children read this crap?” he mumbled to himself as he flipped pages.

            “Yeah, I read it all the time,” Mokuba chimed in as he peeked over Seto’s shoulder. He jumped and slammed the book closed.

            “Mokuba, you’re up?”

            “It’s, like, 7 in the morning. Of course, I’m up,” he explained with a shrug. “You want breakfast or are you waiting for Yugi?”

            Seto pretended to be more interested in his book at the mention of Yugi. “I’m not sure.”

            “Did you ask him yet.”

            “Nope,” he was curt and he flipped a page, despite not reading any of the words on the page before it.

            “Why not?”

            “Busy.”

            “You’re not that busy,” Mokuba jumped on the couch and laid down. “This is, like, the least busy you’ve been in forever.”

            “That’s not saying much,” Seto flipped another page.

            “That part doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re too much of a bitch baby to talk to your boyfriend,” said Mokuba Kaiba, with the same groan of an irritated customer at a retail store.

            Seto gripped his book harder and felt his cheeks betray him as they flushed pink.

            “I don’t want to.”

            “Why not?”

            “Because, I… don’t want that…?” It was more of a question than a statement.

            Mokuba covered his face with his hands. “You sound like an idiot. You want it enough to give him his own office, but not to actually ask him? Just ask him.”

            Seto felt his neck tighten up. Mokuba made a good point, but it wasn’t that simple. It was never that simple.

            “I don’t want to play that game with him.”

            “Play that… what?” Mokuba sat up and raised an eyebrow. “Wait… are you _really_ comparing this to Gozaburo.”

            “I was the one who got him into our lives so,” Seto sighed and flipped another page of his book. He had no idea what stupid shit Harry got himself into at this point. That chess game got him so many opportunities and he appreciated some of them, but he couldn’t bring himself to play anymore. He couldn’t toy with his own life like that anymore.

            Yugi was like that chess game. He needed to play the right moves to get a checkmate. However, they were at a stalemate and Seto didn’t know how to get out of it. Actually, they weren’t in a stalemate, Yugi wasn’t even playing. Yugi didn’t even know he was supposed to be playing chess.

            Fuck chess.

            “Seto, you were, like, twelve when you played against Gozaburo,” Mokuba explained. “We didn’t know all that stuff was gonna happen. But we’re older now and smarter and we know Yugi’s not, like, terrible. And you love him—”

            Seto groaned at that word.

            “You do!” Mokuba raised his voice. “Anyway, you’re an adult now and you’re really smart and a good judge of character. Do you think you and Yugi would still work if you two lived together?”

            “Yes,” Seto nodded.

            “Would you be all kissy and annoy me?”

            “No…?”

            “Good. That’s all you need, really.” Mokuba laid down on the couch. “You’re welcome.”

            _That’s not how that works_ , Seto thought to himself, but didn’t say anything.

            “Hey guys,” Yugi mumbled as he walked into the living room. He had a change of clothes, which made him look more like a human and not a dying college student, but that was it. His hair was still a complete mess and his eye bags practically had eye bags of their own, but his clothes were clean.

            “Did you have enough sleep?” Seto asked as he flipped another page of his book.

            “Kind of…? Sure.” Yugi didn’t even bother to be subtle as he walked over to Seto and sat on his lap. “What’s for breakfast.”

            “Seto said something about going out to eat,” Mokuba chimed in.

            _What?_

            “Really?” Yugi’s eyes widened. Seto stayed silent.

            “Yeah. There’s a cool breakfast place down the street Seto wanted you guys to walk to.”

            “Uhhh… yeah,” Seto ran his hands through Yugi’s hair. “Thought it’d be nice to just go on a walk.”

            “Seto Kaiba walking? Without bodyguards?” Yugi said with a gasp. “Unheard of.”

            “Just wanted to try something new,” he said with a bit of a smile. Mokuba rolled his eyes before he let himself out of the room.

            Seto and Yugi changed into hoodies to avoid getting spotted by paparazzi. Yugi tied his hair back into a ponytail and Seto put on an oversized hood to block his face.

            It was a little crisp outside, but the sun was out and it wasn’t windy so it was fine.

            Yugi reached out for Seto’s hand and they held onto each other as they walked.

            “So… what does this place have?” Yugi asked.

            “Eggs,” Seto responded.

            “I mean, of course they have eggs. What else?”

            Seto’s heart began to beat faster and faster as he tried to think of what this restaurant that he didn’t know existed 20 minutes ago had. His phone rested in his pocket, patiently waiting to be used, but Seto didn’t even bother to think about it.

            “Yugi, I need to ask you something,” he said with a cough. His neck felt tight and he looked over at the buildings next to them.

            “Yeah what i—”

            “Would you like to move in with me?”

            Yugi went silent and Seto pulled his hand away and stuffed it in his pocket. This was stupid. Lefebvre could’ve made them breakfast ten times better than whatever this place was, they could’ve just walked back to his house and pretend this never happened. _I could create a device to erase memories_ , Seto thought. _I could use that._

            “I was waiting for you to ask me.”

            Wait.

            “What?” Seto turned over to look at him and Yugi had that smile on his face. The smile that could light the world. The one that light Seto’s world. The one that also confused him on the daily because how could a smile do all that?

            “Yeah.”

            “How?”

            “You made it, like, super obvious…?” Yugi tilted his head to the side. “You gave me a home office.”

            “I was trying to make you comfortable.”

            “Making me comfortable would’ve been like letting me bring my folding table to put my monitor on. Not buying me an entire desk and chair for supposedly one weekend.”

            Seto bit his lip and mumbled a curse to himself. He wasn’t wrong.

            “I just wanted the best for you.”

            “I know,” Yugi went onto his tiptoes and planted a kiss on Seto’s cheek. “I also know you’re probably gonna get a moving company to move my stuff so neither of us will lift a finger.”

            He tried his best not to roll his eyes at the prediction.

            “Yes… All you have to do is tell your grandfather.”

            “He already thinks I’ve been living with you for a while.”

            Seto blinked a few times at that realization. It’s been a while since he actually spoke with Solomon Muto. Their last interaction was a typical ‘meet the parents’ dinner, and that’s all they both needed in terms of acknowledging each other’s existence.

            “Why does he think that?” he asked.

            “I sleep over your— our place every day?” Yugi let out a little chuckle. “We’re both so busy, Grandpa just thinks we don’t have enough time to move. He’s offered to help a few times.”

            “He doesn’t have to do that.”

            “Good. When are we going to move my stuff?”

            “As soon as possible.” They past the breakfast spot Mokuba mentioned and walked towards the city.

            “Not this weekend, I still have a bunch of shit to do.”

            “You need to fire your team.”

            “I told you I can’t do that.” Yugi tapped Seto’s wrist. He pulled his hand out of his pocket so Yugi could hold it.

            “Another question,” Seto took a deep breath. “Our 2-year anniversary is coming up.”

            “That’s not a question. That’s a statement.”

            “Let me finish. I know I’m a bit early, but can this be my gift to you? Or is that not… good?”

            Yugi squeezed Seto’s hand and Seto felt his stomach flutter and he only partially hated it.

            “I love that idea. It’s a perfect gift.”

            “Good. Also, we’re not telling Mokuba. I want him to figure it out on his own.”

            Yugi let out a laugh and the flutters in Seto’s stomach got stronger.

            “Sure. I’m cool with that.” Yugi shook his head. He squeezed Seto’s hand harder as he stopped walking and Seto looked down at him confused. Without another word, Yugi went on his tiptoes, took Seto’s face in his hands, and pulled him in for a kiss. Right on the street.

            Seto’s heart beat at the realization that they were in public, but gave Yugi a few seconds to please him before he pulled away.

            “Thanks for that,” Yugi mumbled. They were a few inches away from each other and Seto could feel his breath against his lips. “You’re going to love my gift to you.”

            Seto felt a bit dizzy as Yugi pulled away and left him to think about exactly what that meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my spotify playlists for [Kaiba](https://open.spotify.com/user/pieceofvie/playlist/45XqlPmTkqPBDmGAonrKs6?si=jVzrzogdQwKyJEmme905Tw) and [Yugi](https://open.spotify.com/user/pieceofvie/playlist/1Dl78KXxt2NYeF3Ws6UITR?si=wX-2FyCwRPWUgGQ4OtSzyw). Also look at [Tiff's](https://twitter.com/superpunchygirl) [Rivalshipping](https://open.spotify.com/user/12132843470/playlist/2gg5ThK9W4gfwzqojGKMrR?si=Idu-VRv4Qhund9mS6DkKJQ) playlist as well.  
> Oh yeah follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/aquafinamann).

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my spotify playlists for [Kaiba](https://open.spotify.com/user/pieceofvie/playlist/45XqlPmTkqPBDmGAonrKs6?si=jVzrzogdQwKyJEmme905Tw) and [Yugi](https://open.spotify.com/user/pieceofvie/playlist/1Dl78KXxt2NYeF3Ws6UITR?si=wX-2FyCwRPWUgGQ4OtSzyw). Also look at [Tiff's](https://twitter.com/superpunchygirl) [Rivalshipping](https://open.spotify.com/user/12132843470/playlist/2gg5ThK9W4gfwzqojGKMrR?si=Idu-VRv4Qhund9mS6DkKJQ) playlist as well.  
> Oh yeah follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/aquafinamann).


End file.
